''Salix jejuna'', the barrens willow, is a tiny

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

restricted to a 30 km stretch of coastal barren lands of the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle ( ; ) is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates Labrador from the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is located in the southeast of the ...

on the

Great Northern Peninsula The Great Northern Peninsula (or simply just the Northern Peninsula) is the largest and longest peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, approximately 270 km long and 90 km wide at its widest point and encompassing an area of 17,483 km2. ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. It was first found in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (November 23, 1883 – August 8, 1973) was a Canadians, Canadian academic, oceanographer, and Fisheries science, fisheries biologist. He is best known for his research on Atlantic salmon and inventing the Frozen food, ...

in 1923 and then by

Merritt Lyndon Fernald Merritt Lyndon Fernald (October 5, 1873 – September 22, 1950) was an American botanist. He was a respected scholar of the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. During his ...

Karl McKay Wiegand Karl McKay Wiegand (June 2, 1873 – March 12, 1942) was an American botanist who headed the Department of Botany at Cornell University for 28 years. He was a member of the Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) rep ...

, and

Long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

in 1925. It grows in highly restricted limestone barrens where

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

crevices are found among thin soils that conceal fields of fissured limestone. It is characterized by small rounded leaves on short petioles growing close to the

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

s. The plant's growth architecture is twiggy flat mats that sprawl over the surface. Mats can extend to 30 cm in a couple of years. It flowers in late June to mid-July. Barrens willow's low-growing habit and spreading form allows it to take advantage of the sun-heated soil boundary and persist in harsh conditions including wind, wind-entrained ice, and soil

frost heaving Frost heaving (or a frost heave) is an upwards swelling of soil during freezing conditions caused by an increasing presence of ice as it grows towards the surface, upwards from the depth in the soil where freezing temperatures have penetrated int ...

. Like all willows, it is a

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

. ''Salix jejuna'' is considered

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

. It was assessed by the

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC, French: Comité sur la situation des espèces en péril au Canada, COSEPAC) is an independent committee of wildlife experts and scientists whose "raison d'être is to identify s ...

(COSEWIC) in 2001 and determined to be an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

as listed in the Newfoundland and Labrador Endangered Species Act and the Canadian federal

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (, SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. T ...

in 2002.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17562558 Plants described in 1926 jejuna Flora of Newfoundland Endemic flora of Canada Flora without expected TNC conservation status